Does Target’s corporate culture stifle innovation? Or reward bubbly personality instead of achievement? Has it grown so bureaucratic that even tiny changes take forever?

One anonymous Target employee in Minneapolis thought so — then drew a surprising and very public amen from a top Target executive.

“The truth hurts, but it can also set you free,” Jeff Jones, Target’s chief marketing officer, wrote to Target employees, then posted his perspective on LinkedIn.

Jones’ “truth hurts” post has now been viewed 256,000 times, and its candor amazes Target-watchers, who are more familiar with the discount-chain’s controlled and tightly wound culture.

But times may be changing at Target. On Friday, industry journal AdAge reported that Jones ran his words by another top executive before he posted them. Meanwhile, Target continues to search for a way forward, following the resignation last week of CEO Gregg Steinhafel, a massive data breach and its troubles in Canada.

“Target is not the first brand in history to hit a rough patch,” Jones wrote. “And we won’t be the last brand to do what it takes to recover.”

The episode began last week, when the popular Gawker website posted a caustic account of Target’s corporate culture from an anonymous mid-level employee in Minneapolis. Some of it was a bit over the top — such as calling for the firing of Target’s entire executive team — except Jones.

But perhaps most stinging was its depiction of Target’s culture as inbred, risk-averse, slow to decide anything, infected with me-too ideas, obsessed with appearances, passive-aggressive and essentially one big popularity contest.

“In reading this account of life at Target, I’ve gone through a range of emotions,” Jones wrote. “First anger, then wondering why any team member would say what they said. And while it was difficult for me to read this account for many reasons, the reality is that our team members speaking with honesty is a gift. Because much of what they are saying is true.”

He added, “The very real fact of the matter remains, we have hard work to do.”

Jones isn’t the first executive to urge changes at Target’s headquarters on Nicollet Mall. Even Target’s just-appointed interim CEO, John Mulligan, this month suggested there’s too much corporate dithering “and we all have to move faster and empower the people around us to do the same.”

Back in 2012, retail giant Best Buy faced a similar incident, after a Forbes blogger attacked its lousy customer service and doubted its survival. That salvo drew millions of page views.

The harsh critique arrived in the midst of corporate soul-searching about Best Buy’s future. While executives publicly denounced the piece, some later admitted that it contained a lot of truth, then moved to fix some of the problems.

Retail analyst Dick Seesel had a two-sided reaction to the Target flap. First, he asked, “What company, retail or otherwise, doesn’t have its share of disgruntled employees?”

Even so, Seesel wrote on the RetailWire blog, “Target does seem to be an unusually inbred company. … The challenge for an incoming CEO will be to overturn the attitude of ‘we’ve always done things this way’ common in any homegrown organization, without disrespecting the very real underlying assets and talent at Target.”

As for the reaction to his post on Target, Jones revealed that on Twitter Thursday: “I am completely overwhelmed by the response to my post, and appreciate all who have commented, shared and said thanks!” Jones wrote, adding the hashtag #bestteaminretail.

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